8 Foods That Are Causing You Back Pain

There are a number of reasons why you might be experiencing back pain. It could be the way you sleep, your posture, the fact that you sit down for long periods of time, due to an injury, or even because you are out of shape. In many of these cases people will even seek professional treatment for back pain because it becomes unbearable and begins to interfere with their everyday life.

What you might not know is that a professional may recommend trying to adjust your eating habits because there are certain foods that cause inflammation in your body that in turn causes back pain. The type of pain you feel may vary from severe lower back pain to an ache in your neck, but because everyone’s body is different your reaction to certain foods might not be the same as someone else’s. This is why it’s recommended that you try an elimination diet over a period of a few weeks, so that you can get a sense of what foods are causing you the most issues.

That being said, reducing your intake of these eight foods will probably be good for you regardless of whether or not you have a particular intolerance to one of them. Remember to always consult a professional before making dramatic changes to your lifestyle, especially if you have any medical issues that may be affected by a sudden change in your diet.

Enriched Wheat Flour

Look out for this ingredient when buying bread, cake, cookies, crackers, pastries, pasta, and pizza.

Caffeine

Avoid drinking coffee, tea, and any other caffeinated beverages like energy drinks.

Hydrogenated Oils

You can find this ingredient in baked goods, packaged snacks, coffee creamers, fried foods, margarine, and vegetable shortening.

Processed Foods

A number of foods are processed in order to increase their shelf life, including cheese, milk, cereal, bread, chips, bacon, frozen pizza, dried fruits, etc.

Alcohol

Any type of alcohol should also be avoided as it is a huge culprit of inflammation in the body.

Dairy

Whether you are intolerant to dairy or not you should avoid consuming it if you want to limit back pain. This is because dairy is high in saturated fats which cause inflammation.

Artificially Sweetened Soda, Juices, and Drinks

Even fruit juice can be loaded with sugar, so try to limit your intake of it. Sugar is another reason for inflammation in the body and should be one of your main concerns when changing up your diet.

Added Sugar

As noted above, pretty much anything that has added sugar should be avoided because high amounts of fructose trigger inflammation.

So What Can You Eat?

Good question. The reality is that a lot of food found in grocery stores is processed and has added sugars and preservatives. Your best bet to avoid these foods is to make your own meals from scratch from raw ingredients, that way you are guaranteeing what is going into the food you eat. Stick with proteins, grains, and raw green vegetables for a truly healthy diet that will help you relieve back pain.